Growth is fuelled by accelerating AI infrastructure investment and rising demand for high-performance computing.
Global IT spending is expected to reach US$6.31 trillion in 2026, up 13.5% from 2025, according to the latest forecast from Gartner.
“This latest forecast reinforces the rapid pace of A) infrastructure and rich memories,” said John-David Lovelock, Vice President Analyst Emeritus at Gartner. “As AI workloads scale, investments in data centers are growing rapidly, which in turn is driving greater demand for high-performance processing. This dynamic is creating significant growth opportunities for companies that provide AI-optimised processors, accelerators and enabling technologies.”
Spending on data centre systems is expected to register the highest growth in 2026, at 55.8%. IT services, including application and managed services implementation, infrastructure and managed services implementation and IaaS), is expected to present the highest overall spending, exceeding US$1.87 billion in 2026.
“Strong demand, combined with supply constraints, has resulted in record increases in high-bandwidth memory prices. This increase positions the memory segment as a lucrative area for semiconductor manufacturers,” said Lovelock. “These trends, taken together, make AI infrastructure the most attractive segment to capitalise on the strong expansion of IT spending.”
Upwardly revised projections driven by AI infrastructure, software and hardware
Compared to Gartner’s previous forecast, the company forecasts stronger-than-expected growth in global IT spending, driven by the continued advancement of AI, software and IaaS infrastructure. These changes are reinforcing a multi-speed IT market, with hyperscaler purchases and AI-centric software segments significantly outperforming more traditional categories.
Demand for hyperscale cloud is driving a dramatic increase in server and data centre investments, with spending on data centre systems projected to exceed US$788 billion in 2026, with growth accelerating beyond previous expectations. At the same time, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) continues to drive significant gains in software, especially in GenAI model development, where spending growth is predicted to more than double year-over-year.
Device spending is also increasing, reaching an estimated US$856 billion, although growth is being tempered by higher memory costs, which are driving up average selling prices and constraining replacement cycles in lower-margin segments.
“Taken together, these dynamics highlight a growing divergence in IT markets, as GenAI’s AI infrastructure and software undergo substantial upward revisions, while device growth reflects ongoing cost and price pressures,” Lovelock said.
Gartner’s IT spend forecasting methodology relies heavily on a rigorous analysis of sales made by more than 1,000 vendors across the full range of IT products and services. Gartner uses primary research techniques, supplemented by secondary research sources, to create a comprehensive market size database on which it bases its forecasts.
